The impact of new materials on the design of electrical machines

The three largest factors driving changes in machine design are the rapid increase in performance and reduction in cost of power electronic devices, the even more dramatic improvement in digital computational electronics and the rise in the performance of the materials used in electrical machines, particularly permanent magnets. The author discusses the improvements in machine performance brought about by new materials. The author considers insulation and conductors, soft magnetic materials, hard magnetic materials, and powder metallurgy. Some prototype machines are also mentioned